Going on 30 is a preteen-girl flick, which like Freaky Friday, is a movie about body-time displacement and "what if..." scenarios. It would have been a decent movie except for the fact that the movie does not really seem to know what it is trying to say. Beyond the cliche love plot, there are a number of interesting ideas, but with the absence of any real comedy, which is expected of a girl-woman body swap flick, it's hard to say what kind of audience and what kind of message this movie is trying to deliver.

The premise is really as simple as the title. On her thirteenth birthday, Jenna (Garner as an adult, Christa B. Allen as a child) decides to have a birthday party in which she invites the "cool people" of her school class. In doing so, she has to decide between hanging out with superficial friends for the sake of popularity or her long-time "uncool" neighborhood friend, Matt (Mark Ruffalo, Jack Salvatore, Jr. as a child). The party turns out to be a disaster, as the "Six Chicks" (what the "cool girls" refer to themselves as), tricks Jenna into a closet and then ditches her there. The birthday party having gone awry, Jenna wishes under the sprinkle of fairy dust that she were 30, and presto. The next day Jenna wakes up in the position of a highly successful editor of a magazine called Poise.

The idea of body-temporal displacement is one that has been used a lot lately. These "what if" scenarios attempt to dispel the glamour of the adult life, and reveal a loss of the treasured childhood ignorance. It seems to be delivering its message outside of its targeted audience of pre-teen girls, and more toward the adult side. The question posed is, did you really get to live the life you wanted? Even though Jenna is immersed in good looks, fabulous wealth and dates a hockey player, her actuality as she soon finds out is that in her quest for her career she alienated her true friends (in this case Matt), and despite having numerous options for sexual gratification, has sacrificed her chances of having real love.

Her childhood innocence having transported to the future, is capable of making judgments on her corrupt self and she decided to seek the path of "true love" although at the same time indulging in her wealth and her new-found adult body. The reversal of roles from the past to the present, such as Matt, now the nice charming photographer, and Chris, her crush during her 13 yr old times, now as a slob of a taxi driver, all attempt to espouse the idea that popularity is fleeting, and not everything in the past necessarily reflects the future. The movie seems to spiral in and out of control, at times advocating the life of glamour, but in other moments pointing the viewer to a life of love and innocence. But like the capitalist society we live in, the contradictions reflect struggles with attempting to gain everything material, while also possessing a firm grip of the immaterial, like love and friendship.

Jennifer Garner's acting stems a mixed reaction. At times she convincingly pulls off the 13-yr old in a 30 yr old act, with her goofy smiles and almost naive appearance, but at other times, she overdoes it and ends up reversing the role instead appearing to be more like a 30-yr old trying to be 13. If anything, Gollum (Andy Serkis) as Jenna's boss was more of the interesting role. At times he appears seemingly randomly on screen for the few bits of the movie's rare comic relief, spews out a number of odd-ball one-liners such as, "my balls are in a vice", and does so successfully. One could only wish he had a greater role in the movie.

13 Going on 30 tries to throw another dart at the preteen audience and wholly misses the spot, though at least, it manages to hit the board. The odd juxtaposition of a 13 yr old mind in a 30 yr old body while it gives open ground for interesting plot, unfortunately is dashed by Jenna's oddball decisions to hit on younger 13 yr old boys, throw awkward sleepover parties with younger children, and even perform the dated "Thriller" dance in a nightclub for a magazine party. Filled with unusual decisions, 13 Going on 30 while at times charming and quirky, can also be just as humorless and meaningless. A film to pass up.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older